• Just wait, de-clouding isn't the end of it. (Score:5, Insightful)

  by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) writes:

  One day, managers will realize that if you have to hire IT people, there's no difference between Linux and Windows in terms of 'knowing it' because you hire people who already do.

  One day, managers will realize that a Linux desktop is good enough, and no, you don't really need all those extra things shoved into Windows that Microsoft changes every few years anyway. 99% of what goes on at the desktop level these days is checking email, instant messaging, and maybe very basic MS Office suite. A lot of busine
  • Re: (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward writes:

    The reality is the OS and 365 subscriptions are rounding errors in the cost of managing a fleet of desktops. The cost of training users alone surpasses those costs in any significant change. This doesn't mean Linux desktop isn't viable, but clueless linux zealots that push it as a money saver will get laughed out of the building as they have zero idea of where the real costs of a desktop are.
    • Re: (Score:5, Interesting)

      by iAmWaySmarterThanYou ( 10095012 ) writes:

      Why windows over Linux in many business environments?

      2 reasons:
      1) most staff already know windows. Yes, this is a chicken and egg problem for corporate desktop Linux. It is what it is.
      2) Microsoft Office. Specifically Word, Excel, PowerPoint. People know how to use them and expect them to work as they do. Anything that varies won't be adopted. No one wants to learn a new app to get the functionality they already had.

      1 not reason:
      1) costs. The cost of the OS is already wrapped into the hardware. No o
      • Re: (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) writes:

        Every major Windows version change, I hear people complain about the desktop differences... and it seems to last until the next major change. Remember when the Ribbon became a thing?

        I run default Mint on a couple of computers in my home and my wife, who is almost completely computer illiterate, has no issues switching between it and Windows. We use Bluemail as an email client and sometimes the interface annoys her, but then so do Hotmail and Outlook. I know several companies that somehow manage to use a
        • Re: (Score:0)

          by iAmWaySmarterThanYou ( 10095012 ) writes:

          1) your wife is not the typical user. The typical user is more like the DMV person who I had to gently point out that "maybe if you hit enter..." to get her data entry app to go to the next screen when she was sitting there for 30 seconds doing nothing
          2) there is still no benefit for retraining everyone to Linux or to a free Office clone. None. Why should any IT Manager do this? It will confuse his users, require rewriting a ton of documentation and yield what positive result for his company? None.
          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Oryan Quest ( 10291375 ) writes:

            I mostly agree with you here but this doesn’t really address the point that microsoft will happily fuck with everything for silly reasons. Unless you use extremely niche features libreoffice is closer to office 2003 than the ribbon offices
            • Re:Just wait, de-clouding isn't the end of it. (Score:2)

              by Ol Olsoc ( 1175323 ) writes: on Monday February 12, 2024 @04:59PM (#64235028)

              I mostly agree with you here but this doesn’t really address the point that microsoft will happily fuck with everything for silly reasons. Unless you use extremely niche features libreoffice is closer to office 2003 than the ribbon offices

              I was tasked a few years back with word processing and presentation applications. The main demand was it had to act identically on Windows, Mac and Linux.

              The vaunted industry standard Office failed right out of the gate. No Linux variant and not even compatible with itself on Mac. Mac and Windows interface completely different. Printer plain failure between them. Utter failure.

              So OO to the rescue. Operated identically on all three platforms. Take a document between them and it looked the same. And it wasn't a problem to have people learn to use it either.

              I had an experience with my wife also. After having a shoulder operation, she needed a touchscreen. So I bought her a W8 laptop. Every day "how do I do this? Or that? After a couple weeks, no more questions. I told her she must have been getting pretty proficient - she told me that the computer was too much a pain in the ass, so she refused to use it any more.

              I had the Shits of Windows 8 anyhow, so I installed Mint on it. She immediately just started using it, claiming that it just made sense. And Mint worked great with the touch screen. Now she mostly uses an iPad.

              But what I do know is that computing and email and the cloud is dissolving into a wet sucky glue. I never used the cloud, Horrid security, you are just another customer, and I prefer my own multiple backups.

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